The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 You are not, [O Muhammad], by the favor of your Lord, a madman. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, 5 which of you was bereft of reason. 6 Lo! thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is Best Aware of those who walk aright. 7 Then do not obey the deniers. 8 they would like thee to be soft [with them,] so that they might be soft [with thee]. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 A slanderer, going about with calumnies, 11 One who excessively forbids the good, transgressor, sinner. 12 Ignoble, besides all that, base-born; 13 (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons, 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 Anon We shall brand him on snout. 16 [As for such sinners,] behold, We [but] try them as We tried the owners of a certain garden who vowed that they would surely harvest its fruit on the morrow, 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Then there passed by on the (garden) something (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they were asleep. 19 So in the morning it became as if harvested. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 "Let no needy person come to you within it today." 24 And they went out betimes determined in purpose. 25 But when they saw it, they said, "We must have lost our way. 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, 'Glory be to God, our Lord; truly, we were evildoers.' 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 [In the end] they said: "Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we did behave outrageously! 31 Belike our Lord may exchange for us better garden than this; verily we are unto our Lord beseechers. 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33